Air supply to chain grate



pril 30 19 RIVERS 3 AIR SUPPLY To CHAIN ATE 380,408

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ed March 30, 1967 2 Sheet eat 1 'IIIllIllllllllmllllllllllmmnmlIllIIIlIIIIlIllllllllnulmmnm rd; I WWMMAAQY? INVENTOR Russell C. Riversl 1'4, Hfio e April 30, 1968 R. c. RIVERS AIR SUPPLY TO CHAIN GRATEFiled March so, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet i3 5 w M v T. N I mR 7 4 C 6 u 7 e a3 u a 8% 4 H R w w a a M 7 a 9 8 n 8 a x n m/v/o 5 u Z 2 8 A w u 1 4 n nH W HHH IL Thhl uu w d z 4/: p Hr! J m 7 e 4 a 7 5 8 n United StatesPatent 3,380,408 AIR SUPPLY T0 CHAIN GRATE Russell C. Rivers,'Boylston,Mass., assiguor to Riley Stoker Corporation, Worcester, Mass., acorporation of Massachusetts Continuation-impart of application Ser. No.558,195, May 31, 1966. This application Mar. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 633,343

Claims. (Cl. 110-40) This is a continuation-impart of my patentapplication Serial Number 558,195, filed May 31, 1966, now abanoned,which is a continuation-in-part of my patent application Serial Number404,072, filed October 15, 1964, now abandoned, which, in turn, is adivi ion of patent application Serial Number 95,667, filed March 14,1961, now Patent No. 3,169,498 dated February 16, 1965. This inventionrelates to a stoker and, more particularly, to apparatus arranged toburn solid fuel on a traveling grate.

It is common practice to dispose of refuse, such as garbage and rubbish,by burning it, and the traveling grate is ideally suited for thispurpose because of its selfcleaning function. However, the burning ofsuch material as well as other solid fuels on a traveling gratesometimes presents problems that are not encountered in the burning ofordinary fuel by this method. Among other problems, the accurate controlof the division of air to the various parts of the grate is quiteimportant. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior artdevices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide astoker of a novel unitary construction.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a stokerhaving a novel ducting arrangement for air to the various zones.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of partsset forth in the specification and covered by the claims appendedhereto.

The character of the invention, however, may be best understood byreference to one of its structural forms as illustrated by theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an incinerator incorporating theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken transversely of the stoker,

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the invention takentransversely of the stoker, and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the apparatus.

Referring first to FIG. 1, which shows the general features of theinvention, the incinerator, indicated generally by the reference numeral10, is shown as consisting of a furnace 11 and a grate 12. The furnaceis provided with a hopper 13 into which refuse and garbage is dumped anda chute 14 extends downwardly therefrom toward the grate 12. The furnaceis provided with a roof 15 and a floor 16 joined by side walls 17 and18, the walls defining a combustion chamber 19 at the bottom of whichlies the grate 12. At the end of the combustion chamber opposite thechute 14 is an ash pit 21 into which the grate discharges. At the end ofthe combustion chamber is arranged a fire wall 22 over which gas passeson its way to a stack (not shown). The grate 12 consists of aconditioning section 23 and a burning section 24 both of which are chaingrates. The burning section underlies the combustion chamber 19 andrests on the floor 16, while the conditioning section 23 underlies thechute 14 at one end and its other end extends downwardly adjacent theupper surface of the burning section. The upper end of the conditioningsection 23 rests on a supporting structure 25 and from this end extendsa dust hopper 26. At its other end the conditioning section rests on anabutment 27 extending upwardly from the end of the burning section 24.Three channel beams 28 extend across the conditioning section 23 anddivide it into a number of air zones or chambers, each of which isprovided with a damper 29. In a similar manner, the burning section 24is provided with deep I channels 31 dividing the chamber between theupper and lower runs of the chain grate into a series of zones orchambers, each of which is provided with its own damper 32. Theconditioning section 23 is provided with an endless grate 33 whichextends around idler sprockets 34 at one end and driven sprockets 35 atthe other end. In a similar manner, the burning section 24 is providedwith an endless grate 36 which extends around idler sprockets 37 at oneend and driven sprockets 38 at the other end.

Referring now to FIG. 2, which shows a perspective view of the burningsection 24, it can be seen that the apparatus is provided with steelside walls 39 and 41 between which the endless grate 36 lies. At one endof the wall 39 is mounted a bearing 42 carrying the shaft on which ismounted the driven sprockets 38, while at the other end the wallsupports a bearing 43 and the shaft associated with the idler sprockets37. Similar bearings are mounted in the other wall 41. The wall 39 isprovided with clean-out doors '44. Mounted on top of the side wall 39 isan abutment 45 having an inclined upper surface 46 on which theconditioning section 23 rests. The side wall 41 is provided with theabutment 27 having an inclined upper surface 48 to carry the lower endof the conditioning section. The wall 41 and the abutment 27 are bothconstructed as hollow ducts and serve to carry air to the conditioningand burning sections. A seal 49 extends from side to side between thetwo abutments 45 and 27 and extends vertically between the conditioningsection 23 and the surface of the burning section 24.

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of a section of the grate looking in thedirection of movement of the chain. It should be particularly observedthe manner in which a vertically-depending web 71 of the clip 63 isattached to a plate 64 of the grate bar by means of a readily-releasablepin 72. The presence of the apertures 73 for air flow are particularlyevident in this view. The driven sprocket wheel 38 is shown as engagingchain 53 and it is particularly evident in this figure the manner inwhich links 66 and 67 are provided with lugs 68 and 69 which pressagainst the rearward side of an intermediate web 57.

FIG. 4, which is a section through the wall 41 of the apparatus, showsthat the wall 41 is actually a duct having a top wall 75, a bottom wall76, an outer wall 77, and an inner wall 78. The inner wall 78 isprovided with a large aperture 79 leading into one of the chambers.Across the aperture resides the damper 32. Across the aperture 79extends a bridge 81 which is pivotally attached to the inner end of acontrol rod 83 which is also carried in a bearing 82 mounted onv theouter wall 77. Welded to the inwardly-directed surface of the damper 32is a flange formed by an angle iron 40 which, because of engagement withthe vertical wall of the air zone 70, prevents the damper from rotatingwhen the control rod 83 is rotated. The outer wall, incidentally, isprovided with an access door 84. Surrounding the control rod 83 andwelded to the damper 32 is a tube 85 which extends through the bushing82 in the wall 77 and is carried thereby. The control rod 83 is threadedand engages a nut 86 welded within the tube 85. The outer end of thecontrol rod is provided with a hand wheel 87 which is keyed to it.Fastened to the wall 77 is a pointer 88 and formed in the outer surfaceof the tube, particularly in 3 the area of the wall 77 are shallowgrooves 89 which are filled with paint to give an indication to theoperator of the position of the damper aided by the pointer 88. Theinterior of the wall 41, which acts as an air duct, is connected to theforce draft fan (not shown) of the furnace so that the entire length ofthe wall 41 is provided with air under pressure and an individual damper32 is provided for each chamber or zone of the grate. The wall 41, inturn, is connected to the hollow abutment 27 so that air passestherethrough to the interior of the conditioning section 23.

FIG. 5 shows the details of the manner in which the control rod 83 ispivotally attached to the bridge 81. The rod is provided with an endportion of reduced diameter that extends loosely through an aperture 91in the vertical wall 92 of the bridge. A castellated nut 93 is threadedon the end portion of the rod and is locked in place by a cotter pin inspaced relationship to the shoulder between the end portion and the restof the rod, the spacing being such as to allow free pivotal motionbetween the rod and the bridge with little axial motion.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form andconstruction of the invention without departing from the material spiritthereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to theexact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include allsuch as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new anddesired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A traveling grate, comprising an endless chain, grate clips fastenedto the chain to define upper and lower runs, an air chamber between theruns, a first vertical wall extending parallel to the chain and closingone side of the chamber, a second vertical wall spaced from and parallelto the first vertical wall, the two walls defining an air duct, anaperture through the first wall through which air may pass from the airduct to the air chamber, a support extending across the aperture, acontrol rod extending through the first wall and rotatably mounted inthe said support, a tube slidably carried by the rod, a damper carriedby the tube at a right angle thereto, and threaded means extendingbetween the tube and rod so that when the rod is rotated the tube anddamper move toward or away from the aperture.

2. A traveling grate as recited in claim 1, wherein indicia are providedon the outer surface of the tube to indicate the position of the damperrelative to the aperture.

3. A traveling grate as recited in claim 1, wherein the damper isfixedly connected to the tube.

4. A traveling grate as recited in claim 1, wherein means is provided toprevent rotation of the damper when the control rod is rotated.

5. A traveling grate as recited in claim 1, wherein the said meansconsists of a flange extending at a right angle to the damper and avertical wall forming an air zone in the air chamber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,518,397 12/1924 Duncan 110-401,656,179 l/1928 Duncan 110-40 FREDERICK L. MATTESON, 111., PrimaryExaminer.

H. B. RAMEY, Assistant Examiner.

1. A TRAVELING GRATE, COMPRISING AN ENDLESS CHAIN, GRATE CLIPS FASTENEDTO THE CHAIN TO DEFINE UPPER AND LOWER RUNS, AN AIR CHAMBER BETWEEN THERUNS, A FIRST VERTICAL WALL EXTENDING PARALLEL TO THE CHAIN AND CLOSINGONE SIDE OF THE CHAMBER, A SECOND VERTICAL WALL SPACED FROM AND PARELLELTO THE FIRST VERTICAL WALL, THE TWO WALLS DEFINING AN AIR DUCT, ANAPERTURE THROUGH THE FIRST WALL THROUGH WHICH AIR MAY PASS FROM THE AIRDUCT TO THE AIR CHAMBER, A SUPPORT EXTENDING ACROSS THE APERTURE, ACONTROL ROD EXTENDING THROUGH THE FIRST WALL AND ROTATABLY MOUNTED INTHE SAID SUPPORT, A TUBE SLIDABLY CARRIED BY THE ROD, A DAMPER CARRIEDBY THE TUBE AT A RIGHT ANGLE THERETO, AND THREADED MEANS EXTENDINGBETWEEN THE TUBE AND ROD SO THAT WHEN THE ROD IS ROTATED THE TUBE ANDDAMPER MOVE TOWARD OR AWAY FROM THE APERTURE.